Line Of Duty Fans Stunned As Buckells Spotted Golfing With OCG In Season 1

After nearly 10 years of fan theories, sleuthing and obsessing over Steve Arnott's waistcoats, Line of Duty drew to a close on Sunday night.

The BBC's corrupt cops drama unveiled the true identity of the Fourth Man, known as H, to viewers - who were left to discover they had been duped by Ian Buckells (Nigel Boyle) for all this time.

The bumbling Buckells, who was dismissed early on in the inquiry by Arnott for "not being able to organise a p*ss-up in a brewery" was the final remaining link between the OCG and the force, and was only caught out when Chloe Bishop (Shalom Brune-Franklin) spotted his infamous spelling of 'definately' throughout his reports.

But we should have been able to guess it was Buckells all along - particularly as writer Jed Mercurio had literally shown us in season one.

One Line of Duty fan, who had been rewatching all six series again for clues, spotted Buckells off to play golf withTommy Hunter - the infamous head of the OCG who was well-connected to corrupt police officers that allowed him to do his bidding.

The scene was spotted by Twitter user Angela Cookson, who tweeted: "Hiding in plain sight since Series 1 Episode 5. Buckells going to play golf with Hunter!"

And it really is him - if you check in at the 42 minute mark, you can see him get out of his car.

Of course, writer Jed Mercurio had peppered clues about the big reveal throughout season 6 - which we had all overlooked.

Buckells' golf clubs - also a nod to the now-infamous 'Caddy' - as well as his Masonic links made him a firm favourite to be the 'Fourth Man'.

However, not all Line of Duty fans were over the moon at the big reveal, with some left bitterly disappointed by the unveiling.

Others claimed the unexpected outcome was "worse" that the controversial Game Of Thrones finale, which led to almost universal backlash when it finished in 2019.

But some believe that this isn't really the end of Line of Duty, with fans already suggesting theories about what's going to happen in a proposed season seven.

Line of Duty is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.

Featured Image Credit: BBC

Topics: Drama, BBC, TV News, TV & Film, TV Entertainment, Line of Duty

Kimberley Bond

Kim is a journalist at Tyla, and has previously worked at the Evening Standard, Radio Times as well as several national newspapers. A showbiz obsessive and a television fanatic, Kim is particularly interested in celebrity gossip, A-list events and the latest releases on either the big or small screen. Contact her at [email protected]

@0xKimberley